Outgoing CIA Chief: Obama Nowhere to Be Found Night of Benghazi Attack

Katie Pavlich

2/7/2013 2:45:00 PM - Katie Pavlich

Confirmed again: Obama missed his 3 a.m. phone call on 9/11/2012. Early Thursday morning during testimony on Capitol Hill, Panetta told Senators he did not speak with President Obama or anybody in the White House the night the terrorist attack was carried out on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, leaving four Americans dead including U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens.

"He knew generally what was deployed out there but as to specifics about time, etc., etc., he left that up to us."

Panetta argued Obama relied on the Defense Department to work with the State Department on the issue.

Senator Kelly Ayotte asked Panetta if President Obama followed up with him about the status of the attack throughout the night, the answer was no.

Meanwhile, General Dempsey said the State Department never sent a request for military backup before, during or after attack occured.

"Why didn't you put forces in place to be ready to respond?," Senator John McCain asked the general.

Dempsey started, "Because we never received a request to do so, number one. And number two, we --"

"I had, through General Ham," responded Dempsey, referring to the commander of AFRICOM. "But we never received a request for support from the State Department, which would have allowed us to put forces--"

"So it's the State Department's fault?"

"I'm not blaming the State Department," Dempsey responded.

Two weeks ago when former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton testified about Benghazi, she said she was in contact with the White House about the attack throughout the night.

Clinton testified she spoke to National Security Adviser Tom Donilon, then-CIA director Gen. David Petraeus, who had a compound in Benghazi, and the White House.

She said U.S. officials participated in talks about what to do in a secure video conference with senior officials from the White House, the intelligence community and the Defense Department.

"I spoke to President Obama later in the day," she said.

As I've said since the beginning of this mess, those men were left to die that night and the President of the United States didn't bother to ask about details.